WASHINGTON – Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued this statement in response to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) proposed rule to require drug and alcohol testing for safety-sensitive workers at foreign air repair stations:
“For more than 20 years, we have called for greater federal oversight of foreign repair stations where U.S. aircraft undergo maintenance. Today, we welcome the FAA’s proposed rule to require certificated foreign repair stations to implement drug and alcohol testing for employees who perform safety-sensitive maintenance functions on U.S. aircraft. To be frank, this rule is more than 10 years overdue as the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 required a proposed rule to be issued no later than February 14, 2013.
“This drug and alcohol testing requirement is necessary as most foreign countries do not have these requirements for repair aircraft stations located there. In fact, the proposed rule would finally bring employee drug and alcohol testing at nearly 1,000 foreign air repair stations in 65 countries into alignment with the testing requirements at repair stations here in the United States. From perimeter security and unannounced station inspections to drug and alcohol testing of employees, foreign repair stations should be held to the same stringent safety standards as domestic repair stations.
“If implemented properly, the proposed rule is an opportunity to correct an egregious safety oversight that has existed for too long in our aviation system. We call on the FAA to consider feedback from labor unions and other aviation safety stakeholders and to swiftly implement a final rule that reflects our input.”
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